TXCHIEF

Honor them by ensuring that our future was worth the sacrifice of their tomorrows.

Knowing the area fairly well the city of Joshua is beginning to get the growth that is moving out west from the Fort Worth and its eastern suburbs. Another reason towards career staffing has to due with the vast majority of volunteers working out of the city and most recently in 2008 the FD lost their state certification in running their ambulance due to lack of Paramedic certified personal. They do cover a larger area than just the City of Joshua, its a smart move on their part in making this move and planning to provide the protection and services need for their growing community

Yep, that was he one.... happened the week before Easter

Thks Bnechis... I have caught grief about that photo for over 25 yrs.... nd yes lot of folks might not understand we were removing all the contents and turning over to the owner of the store

Seth, Texas passed the "Move Over" law in 2003 after the sad deaths of several law enforcement personnel throughout the state. You will find that this law is enforced regular throughout the state. Other states that have similiar laws on the books California, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Unless otherwise directed by a law enforcement officer, move over laws basically require drivers nearing a stopped emergency vehicle that has lights activated to:

* Vacate the lane closest to the emergency vehicle if the highway has two or more lanes

traveling the direction of the emergency vehicle; or

* Slow to a speed not more than 20 miles per hour (mph) less than the posted speed limit

when the posted speed limit is 25 mph or more; or

* Slow to a speed not more than five mph when the posted speed limit is less than 25 mph.

I think it is great tool for the safety of emergency personal

I think a family member should have been consulted before this decision was made.... HA HA

Congratulations Rich

Happy 233rd, Marines!

Semper Fi...

Seth, welcome to the Longhorn state, We made the move many years ago, and it has been a great place to raise the family. Now that you have said no snow, just remember we do get that one morning , at least once every two years and it is gone by lunchtime, but its the ice that will catch your attention.....also besides the affordable housing, don;t forget NO STATE INCOME TAX !!!!!!!!!!!!!! lol

The museum did not want these items? Was it political, or do they not have enough space? Seems like maybe this was part of an estate, and is now being sold off. Hopefully, Leut2 will pick up some of these helmets to add to his collection.

The Firematic items from FDMV based on the photos had belonged to the prior individual volunteer fire companies in MV. I recognize many of the items from years ago that were displayed in the various quarters. Its sad that some of the history of the department and city will be lost

I'm in an odd minority in that while I am in favor of citizens rights to gun ownership, I also believe the second amendment does not protect the rights of citizens to bear arms in todays society. This should have been recognized and legislation to address this problem should have been enacted. The supreme court in an effort to avoid the hassle that legislating gun rights would have presented chose to go with the spirit of the written word rather than the written word. Thats fine for religious interpretation but dilutes the power that our constitution holds. The authors of the constitution and our bill of rights went through great lengths to convey a specific message and even acknowledged the realities of change in an evolving society and included a process for modification. The 2nd amendment is written to ensure the protection of a struggling nation from outside forces and from one person or group of people from usurping the power and rights of the people. The need for a well regulated militia is no more and so with it goes the 2nd amendment.

good arguement, although I have to disagree with you that in both the majority and dissenting opinions in this particular case they not only looked at the spirit but also the meanings of the written words in the 2nd Amendment and the phrasing,as well as numerous other historical, legal and legislative interpretations. I have to disagree with your statement that the decision by the court was a effort to avoid a hassle about legislating gun rights, thats not the courts role. Also when you state that a well regulated militia is no more, than I might suggest you take a look at Title 10 of the US Code , as the Organized and Unorganized Militia of the United States is clearly defined...

Anyone meeting the Brady restrictions can walk into a gun shop and walk out with a handgun. They can carry them freely in public in plain display. If you want to carry it concealed, you must apply for another permit but it is "shall issue", they can't really deny you without good reason and given the pro-gun atmosphere, they're not going to deny you unless you're a blatant criminal or mental defect.

In the state of Texas you cannot carry a handgun freely in plain display. For concealed, there are certain requirements including attendance and certification in a class by a DPS certified instructor. A number of factors may make you ineligble for a concealed handgun license, felony conviction, most misdomeanor convictions that are less than 5 yrs old, pending criminal charges, chemical or alcohol dependency, certain psychiatric diagnosis, protective or restraining orders, or defaults on taxes or governmental fees , student loans or child support. States of AZ and WY you can carry in public display and I think there are also a few more.

I previously was involved with a Public Safety dept here in TX, which was originally formed in the early 80's as a way to ensure adequate staffing on fire/ems calls due to the majority of volunteers working away from the community during the day and not having the manpower to respond, as well as the city having a very limited tax base so they were not able to support caeer staffing. As noted by previous posters, it can be very difficult for the PSO's to ensure their proficiency's in the 3 skills of Police Officer, Firefighter and EMS ( we had both EMT and Paramedic officers). we also ran into several issues of officers being tied up on fire calls and dispatch having to request assitstance from neighboring PD's to respond to calls. Overtime several of the officers began having a preference on which roles they wanted to perform and there were also issue's of the on-going training to maintain there certifications.

Last year the city finally reached a point in which the tax base had matured and there were so many glaring deficincies in the Public Safety operations, that the appropriate decision was reached to break the department up and go back to separate Poiice and Fire Rescue departments. PSO's were initially offered the opportunity to choose in which organizations they wanted to go with and all maintained there same pay and special certification pays when the department broke up. There are several other depts nearby that utilize the PSO concept, and its a mixed bag of full blown cross trained personnel or just one of administration which have both a fire and police division reporting in. The concept can work well for a small community with limited ta revenue to support two separate depts and also one that may not have sufficent volunteer resources.

I am happy to say that both the Police and Fire depts in my former community are both flourishing after the break-up, with higher morale and the FD itself is no longer considered as a step-child for staffing and equipment

The FD that provides EMS response in the community I live in down here has the following rate structure for billing

ALS - Resident = $705

ALS - Non-Resident = $855

BLS - Resident = $637

BLS - Non-Resident = $787

Treatment/No-Transport = $175

Mileage for either ALS or BLS = $15 per mile

Just another case of guys on the job being put in danger. If it's not safe to be below the apparatus floor in the basement, then it's not safe to be on the apparatus floor either. If it fails, people will be crushed between or below the apparatus.

Lets see, almost 100 yr old building that has not been maintained by the city ..... accident waiting to happen !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As a kid I can remember going there to see, a friends dad who was on the job when ladder 2 was housed there, and I understand renovations took place several yrs ago to shore the floor up...... Does maybe the words time for a complete review of all stations and a capital program (including generators, had to throw that in).....

I was able to sign on ans check it throughout. Nothing so far. I'll try posing something later on.

Austin site seems to be working ok.... it was having problems for awhile last evening

Can possibly one of the guys from MV explain to me (or maybe it cannot be explained), why the City administration would look at funding a capital project (generator purchase and installation), with the expense dollars associated with the 5 new firefighters, which are already funded and contained within the departments budget. There should be a light going on in the head of someone within the finance function at city hall that says good accounting practices do not say this is the appropriate thing to do.

As a earlier poster noted, FDMV has actually over the past 20+ yrs reduced their operational apparatus and manpower has not increased to reflect the workload and safety needs of the department and city. As a former volunteer in MV, throughout the 70's and early 80's, I find it very sad to read the various posts on the concerns expressed by the current Firefighters there.....

There is a major need to go back to 6 operational engine companies, 3 ladders and Rescue company, with a minimum staffing of 1 Ofc & 4 FF's per apparatus........ Meeting the needs of Public Safety is the highest priority of local government and all other programs by a city or town are secondary to that priority for funding and staffing.........

Chief correct me if I'm wrong but I believe DFW Airport worked that way at one time and still may. Also for any Horry County people out there to confirm, North Myrtle Beach is a public safety dept with dual roles. Like someone posted earlier, it works for some communities but it won't work everywhere. I think it would be more difficult where you have strong union representation.

210, your right about DFW airport they have had Public Safety officers since it was built. Your right, in that it will work in some communites and not others. being a born and raised former southern Westchester boy, I could not see the same type of department implemented up there......

I believe all of that would be taken off and locked securely in the patrol car or fire truck. Wouldnt it? I hope. That would suck if they forgot about it and the can of pepper spray blows, or the gun start shooting off.

A while back we had a structure fire, and when a bunch of us got out and were being re-habbed, I look over at a friend of mine who is also a PD officer and hes taking his turnout coat off, and there in a shoulder holster is his handgun... I was just crawling behind him!!

Would those things go off in high temps? Just curious.

Having been a member of a combo Public Safety dept here in TX, the patrol officers on the street would secure their weapons and rig inside the trunk of their patrol vehicles, when donning their turnouts. In station, gun lockers were installed so that personnel responding along with officer assigned to station duty (typically CID investigators) could secure their weapons, prior to suiting up to respond. The establishment of a public safety dept in this community was done, to provide staffed response due to inadequate volunteer personnel especially during the day and was affordable to the community. Officers were certified and cross trained as firefighters and received additional compensation for it, as well as for additional certifications as EMT or Paramedic. Over the years from the early 80's unitil the late 90's the cross training continued until the Tax base grew and initially the break-up began with the bringing in house of ambulance service from a contract company, which was staffed by 1 emt and 1 Paramedic 24x7, to eventually in 2006 splitting the department into Police and Fire divisions with 6 personnel on duty per shift to respond both ambulance and 1st due engine. As noted earlier the service evolved as the tax base grew to be able to support the additional staffing needed.

Not sure on the timing, on another note-GOOGLE '' mold in firehouses" alot of information which may apply to all of us both in the firehouses and in our own homes.

Hudson, good luck with the on-going battle. Although I left MV over 24 yrs ago, I keep track of whats going on and you and the other members of the department deserve so much better than what you have been receiving from the present administration. Its so sad to read and hear of the degradation of a great department. I wish you and all the others the best of luck

Jim, took a look at the site and looks good. It wasn;t until last month that I had been back to MV in many yrs. Good to see your on the job and enjoying it and also several of the guys when I left the area in 85... Good Luck with the site and stay safe.

Bob